Finite-difference lattice Boltzmann simulation on acoustics-induced particle deposition

Particle manipulation by acoustics has been investigated for many years. By a proper design, particle deposition can be induced by the same principle. The use of acoustics can potentially be developed into an energy-efficient technique for particle removal or filtration system as the pressure drop due to acoustic effects is low and the flow velocity is not necessary to be high. Two nonlinear acoustic effects, acoustic streaming and acoustic radiation pressure, are important. Acoustic streaming introduces vortices and stagnation points on the surface of an air duct and removes the particles by deposition. Acoustic radiation pressure causes particles to form agglomerates and enhances inertial impaction and/or gravitational sedimentation. The objective of this paper is to develop a numerical model to investigate the particle deposition induced by acoustic effects. A three-step approach is adopted and lattice Boltzamnn technique is employed as the numerical method. This is because the lattice Boltzmann equation is hyperbolic and can be solved locally, explicitly, and efficiently on parallel computers. In the first step, the acoustic field and its mean square fluctuation values are calculated. Due to the advantage of the lattice Boltzmann technique, a simple, stable and fast lattice Boltzmann method is proposed and verified. The result of the first step is input into the second step to solve for acoustic streaming. Another finite difference lattice Boltzmann method, which has been validated by a number of flows and benchmark cases in the literature, is used. The third step consists in tracking the particle's motion by a Lagrangian approach where the acoustic radiation pressure is considered. The influence of the acoustics effects on particle deposition is explained. The numerical result matches with an experiment. The model is a useful tool for optimizing the design and helps to further develop the technique.